New Ways to Settle Malpractice Lawsuits

New York has received a federal grant to study alternative ways to resolve medical malpractice lawsuits. The grant follows the plan of New York Judge Douglas McKeon who puts an emphasis on listening to the parties and understanding the motivations in bringing and defending malpractice lawsuits.

The idea is that we should be spending money and effort to think of new ways to resolve medical malpractice claims. I’ll be interested to learn if from these efforts any really “new” ways are uncovered. Instead, it seems to me millions and even billions of dollars have already been “spent” trying to solve this problem organically. I can’t imagine a few pilot programs making a big difference. Not saying the effort is a bad idea but I’m skeptical as to whether it will yield any real result.